What Is The Role Of Women In The 1920s

The media has been influencing the way females view their bodies dating all the way back to the Victorian Era. The fashion industry dictated the ideal Victorian body, which was primarily an hourglass shape with a tiny waist (Robert). Popular literature at that time began to praise women for their denial of food or small appetites. Female conduct books became wildly popular around this time. Conduct books were books that advised women on how to act around company, and some of the advice revolved around what should and should not be eaten in the presence of others (Robert). One way Victorian women would conform to this idealized body was through the use of corsets, a tightly fitting undergarment extending from below the chest to the hips, that
The archetypal flapper was an immature woman who often had little regard for uptight behavioral norms, which replaced the prudery that was common during the Victorian era (“Vanishing Point”). Women all around the country began to cast away their hourglass corset for a rubber girdle that retracted the hips, “this imposed thin and slender figure was enough to guilt women into extreme dieting measures (“Self Worth”). Women in the 1920’s began to put more pressure on themselves to conform by becoming ideally thinner for fear of being looked down upon by society. Before the 1920’s, clothing had been made by private tailors and were made specifically to the measurements of a client’s body. The invention of mass produced clothing led to the idea of assigned body types and defining a certain body type (“Self Worth”). Major companies began to see these insecurities as a way to make profit, and began to exploit them through beauty products that could make a woman look thinner and fashionable clothing styles that fit the smaller body
Barbie is a toy aimed for young girls to play with, who has very unrealistic and impossible proportions. In a study conducted by Kirkpatrick and Sanders, it was shown “that children overwhelmingly associate positive traits with thin and average-sized figures and negative-traits with obese figures (qtd. in Herbozo).” This finding shows that having a young girl be exposed to this unrealistic body type is a beginning to the insecurities she may experience later in life. “Women are constantly bombarded with ‘Barbie Doll-Like’ images. By presenting an idea that is so difficult to achieve and maintain, the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits (“Womenshealth.gov”).” Appealing to a woman’s sense of beauty is one of many marketing techniques used by companies to sell products. An example of this is “‘Low fat and ‘fat’ free are two of the most successful marketing terms that a food product can use in order to sell more